Jealousy
by oneiromancer242
Summary: At a conference held at the Xavier Academy, some of the most powerful beings on Earth have gathered to share company, ideas, and probably little cheesy nibbles. With so many great beings around, a nervous little speedster with a bit of insecurity to work through can't help but not feel too important.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : Story number two of the three still tied for top spot in the poll. There's still plenty of time to vote if you want to see another, so go ahead and do that from my profile if you'd like. This is a crossover, and I'll admit that I don't know Avengers as well as I know X-Men, so perhaps allow a little more leeway on my characterisations whilst I get into this? Constructive criticism is, as always, very welcome.**

1.

It was a big risk, an event like this. Hank wondered why he had ever agreed to help, knew that there were many out there who did not share Professor Xavier's egalitarian views or his kind and loving heart. To open the Mansion up like this felt like it was asking for trouble, even if the Professor had agreed to put the younger members of his team very visibly on guard to discourage any such trouble.

"Are you almost ready?" Xavier asked, watching Hank fuss with his tie yet again, "You look fine, I promise. Every bit the eminent scientist you are"

Hank turned, pulled at the tie, gave him a deep concerned frown

"Are you really sure about this, Charles?"

"It's a little late now if I wasn't" he replied, "Most of the delegates have already arrived. Hank, I do understand your caution, I really do, but we need to stop hiding. A conference is the perfect way to do that"

"I know, I know… and we'll reach so many other Mutants like this. But really, you know yourself that not all of us are on the side of good"

"Which is why we have our best and brightest standing guard" he said reassuringly, "Except yourself of course. I doubt you'd want to give your address in your uniform"

At last, Hank smiled. In truth he wouldn't have been any less comfortable either in his uniform or his true hairy form than he would be in a suit and tie. Public speaking wasn't his forte, and he knew that some of the ideas he'd be presenting were radical. Charles had assured him that the time was right for his theories on the X gene, and what it could mean for the future of both humans and Mutants, but like anyone more comfortable in a laboratory than a lecture theatre, he was knotted with nerves at the thought.

A floor below, a similar conversation was taking place. Jean laughed at her friend, reached to lay a hand on her shoulder and reassure her

"You look gorgeous" she soothed, "You're going to knock 'em dead"

Jean winced at her unconscious poor choice of words, glanced in the mirror to make sure that Angela had put her gauntlets on and that nobody would be literally knocked dead. Saw the girl give her a dubious look in the mirror. Jean looked so good in her uniform, black leather with red detail that brought out her firey hair to gorgeous effect. Angela felt she'd never look as effortlessly poised and perfect as the older girl, turned and examined herself from a few more angles

"Are you sure it's not trashy?" she said, straightened her white satin shirt a little, examined her butt clad in metallic gold leather pants. Jean laughed again, but kindly

"No! Of course not. I think matching outfits are cute anyway"

"I'm not matching" Angela scowled at her, "I like gold. It suits me"

"Oh... well, yeah of course. You do look good. I just thought that maybe…"

"Yeah yeah, Gold and Silver, like the song" she said, "It'll have to do I guess. Are you excited about today, or scared to death?"

"A little of both," Jean admitted, "I spoke to Scott, he says there's at least 150 people here already, we've had to restrict accommodation at the mansion to only family and people who've come a long way there's so many"

"All Mutants?"

"Most of them. Some relatives of Mutants, a few academics. It's probably the most there's ever been in one place at once" she watched Angela brush out her hair one last time, walked with her down to the hall where later, they would be watching the inaugural address of the first Xavier Academy Conference. Jean could feel the pressure of excitement and nerves in the house, waved to Storm and Kurt as she passed the room they had commandeered for the evening to act as a base for the youngest students, in case they got frightened by the big crowds and needed some time out with the woman they had all taken to calling "Auntie 'Ro" with alarming speed. Later, Kurt would leave her to it and take up his post, had already slipped into his uniform, and was currently trying to clean lemon curd off the front of it with a cloth. Typical, Jean thought, she just hoped he'd be keeping his hands off the pastries from now on, it wouldn't do for one of the guards to have jam all over his fuzzy blue face at such an important event.

Xavier had really gone to an effort to make this look as professional as possible – Jean supposed he was an academic himself after all, so organising a conference and presenting everything properly wasn't out of his sphere of experience, but picking up a copy of the timetable of the day's events she was still impressed.

"You didn't tell me your Dad was going to be speaking" she showed the programme to Angela, pointed to the name halfway down the page, "That is your Dad, isn't it?"

"Yes, and he didn't tell me either" she huffed, annoyed that he hadn't mentioned it. Perhaps he had wanted it to be a surprise, but she would have liked to have known before she realised she'd be sitting in a hall listening to him talk about the psychological impacts of living with a mutation. About to say something else when she had spotted Peter striding toward them, pulling at the high collar of his uniform as if it was strangling him. Erik had forced him to tidy up his hair for the occasion, and he looked uncomfortably like a boy forced into his Sunday Best and not happy about it. Accepted Angela's hug, but only gave her a shadow of his usual cheeky smile.

"Hot _damn_ " she said, ran her hands down over his arms admiringly, "I will not be concentrating on a word anyone says today, if you stand where I can see you in that thing"

"You look great too, Honey," he kissed her lightly on the cheek. Even his lips were shaking with nervousness, "I love you in gold – hey we make a nice matching pair, don't we?"

Jean raised an eyebrow at her friend, stifled at laugh at the frown she aimed at her boyfriend

"I do not match you," she said patiently and slowly, as though addressing a particularly slow child, then softened and gave him an odd look "Are you okay? You don't look so well"

"Fine. Pretty sure I'm gonna throw up from nerves, but fine. Oh no… that's all I need"

She turned to where he had caught sight of someone walking in – a handsome, designer-suited man with dark glasses covering his eyes and a perfectly groomed beard. He looked as if he paid someone well to style it for him every morning, and she could tell both by the swagger and the suit that he was rich and he really knew it. He strode over to them, one hand held out and a smirk on his face. Peter took the hand reluctantly

"Mr Maximoff, good to see you on your home turf for once" he shook Peter's hand vigorously, turning to the two girls and saying "And who are these charming young accomplices?"

"This is Jean Gray, she's one of our team" he said, glad that the man had turned away so he couldn't see the sneer that Peter couldn't help, "And this is Angela Goldsmith, one of our newer students and *my girlfriend*"

He emphasised the last part, bristled when the man give him a little look before taking Angela's hand and raising it to his lips Continental-style, planting a delicate kiss on her knuckles.

"Enchanted, of course" he smiled, "Tony Stark, pleasure to make your acquaintances, especially you Miss Goldsmith. You look ravishing in that outfit"

"As in Stark Enterprises?" Jean said, open-mouthed with shock, "Wow! What are you doing here tonight?! You're not…?"

"A Mutant? No" he brushed back the sides of his expensive jacket, stuck both hands in his pockets in a way that was intended to be casual but looked entirely cocky instead, "But I have donated a fairly large lump sum to the Academy. I'm just making sure my investment is well spent. Which I'm sure with lovely young students like you, it will be"

Jean giggled, blushed a little. Peter rolled his eyes and folded his arms defensively. The last thing he needed right now was this arrogant egomaniac making him feel even more like an idiot, though at least if he was here, that might mean that his sister was going to be as well. The thought brightened his mood a little bit, even as he seethed with dislike for the man who had apparently spotted someone more interesting to talk to and headed off into the main hall, where the visitors so far were milling around chatting quite happily.

"What a creep" Angela muttered as he left, curled a lip a little, "Guess you can't buy good manners, huh Puppydog?"

"I thought he was lovely" Jean said, a little dreamily, "What a nice man, donating to us like that. The school won't run itself will it?"

"Another member of the Tony Stark Fan Club is born" Peter sighed, "You girls go mix for a while, I'm gonna go for a quick run, try to relax a little bit. I'll be back soon"

Obligingly, they let him go. Wandered in to where the guests were slowly gathering, spotting Jubilation speaking to a tall, broad-shouldered man with long blonde hair, who was apparently telling a story she didn't find all that comfortable, and going to her rescue.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

By 9AM, the hall was filled with such a noise of busy chatter that Scott found it hard to think straight. Trying to look professional, to keep an eye on his troops for the day, but a little overwhelmed nonetheless by all the people. Every background, every colour from black to blue to pink skin, and such a variety of accents around him. He wondered how Jean was coping, gratefully made his way over to a slightly clearer room where a visiting archaeologist had set up some of her finds. He shuddered a little, seeing a case that contained a worn block of sandstone with the seal of En-Sabur-Nur carved into it, passed along the exhibits until he had come face to face with a beautiful, green-haired woman who was clutching a cup of coffee nervously and gazing around the room with wide, oddly familiar dark eyes.

"Hey," Scott smiled, offered his hand, "You OK? You look lost"

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, thank you!" she flapped a hand in a gesture Scott was sure he knew, "I'm not that great with crowds. I'll be fine though"

"I'm Scott Summers" he said, "I'm one of the students here"

"Lorna Maximoff" she grinned back, "These hunks of old junk are mine – well, technically they belong to the Jeffersonian Museum, but I found most of them"

Suddenly it seemed to fall into place why her nervous gesture and brown eyes were so familiar. A moment more and Scott might even have worked it out on his own.

"It's an impressive haul" he said, gazing around at the cases, "You're an archaeologist?"

"Specialising in Mutant history, yes" she nodded, "I'll be giving a short presentation on this collection later this afternoon, if you're interested? Though of course, I understand if you're not. Most people find archaeology pretty dull once they find out we're not raiding temples or raising mummies most of the time"

"I'm sure it's not" Scott laughed, "Listen – Dr Maximoff, it's lovely to meet you, but I have to get back to the main hall. We'll be ready to begin soon. Are you coming through?"

"I can't leave the exhibits unattended, unfortunately, but you go. It was great to meet you too" she smiled in a sly manner, "You're not at all what I expected"

It was a little more settled in the main hall now, with people seated ten each to tables they had dotted around the room. Scott was just in time, seeing the Professor wheel up to sit beside the podium and tap the microphone there politely. In a few more moments, the chatter had died down, and the sea of faces turned towards the podium. Scott wondered how he sat there so calmly, with all those eyes on him. He was sweating just at the thought, but Xavier looked calm and smiled benevolently over the audience as if each one were a personal friend.

"Good Morning, and welcome to the first – and hopefully not the last - Xavier Academy Conference. It's wonderful to see so many new faces here today, and I hope you will all use the opportunity to share your unique perspectives with one another. In a moment, I'm going to ask our benefactor to say a few words, but first, if I could ask all students of the Academy to stand up?"

A few nervous glances around, before there was a scraping of chairs and the student body climbed to their feet. Most of them looked petrified, but he saw a few smiles as they looked around them, stood expectantly waiting

"These are our gifted, and very wonderful students" Xavier said, looked around them, a smile for each one, "If any of you get lost here, please ask one of these charming young people to help you. Might we have a small round of applause for them?"

Obligingly, there was a ripple of clapping, and the students took their seats again. A few blushes, hands held to shade faces, programmes used as fans, but every one of them looked proud nonetheless.

Xavier continued, but Scott tuned it out, occupied with making sure that all of his team were where they should be and that there were no apparent problems. He saw most of them – Kurt at his post by the far door, Jean beside the podium, but Peter nowhere to be seen, when he should have been supporting Jean on the opposite side. Scott sighed in frustration. She should have known that if anyone was going to let the side down it would be him. He felt for the connection he shared with Jean, saw her look over in his direction.

 _Where's Maximoff?_ He asked, _He's meant to be flanking the podium_

There was the odd sensation of Jean's mind flickering away, searching for Peter, then it was back in touch again

 _Downstairs bathroom_ , she thought back at Scott, _Go check on him? He didn't feel well earlier_

Up on the podium, Xavier was finishing his introduction and welcoming a man in an Armani suit and sunglasses onto the stage. Scott clapped idly as he walked out, searching for his missing teammate, pushed the bathroom door open to find Peter splashing cold water on his face. Scott could see a shake in his shoulders, leaning hard on the edge of the basin, and his annoyance turned quickly to concern. If Peter was taken ill it would really mess things up – Hank wouldn't be able to present his paper if he had to look after him.

"Hey – you alright?" Scott asked, came a little further in. When Peter had raised his head, he looked pale around the lips and definitely not his usual chirpy self, but he nodded

"I'm okay man. Threw up a couple times. S'only nerves though, don't worry"

"Take a break," Scott told him, "Go up to the lab, get yourself a shake or two. We don't need you wiping out on us today. Then get back on duty"

"Oh sure," Peter grumbled, "Because I'm sure I'll be so much help if anything happens. What do you want me to do, run and get someone with *real* powers?"

"We don't have time for your moods, Maximoff. Sort yourself out, go back Jean up, and try not to make the rest of us look like idiots too, OK?"

"Screw you, Summers" he spat. Walked out and slammed the bathroom door behind him. Scott shook his head, went back to his post, glad to see that after five minutes or so Peter had appeared on the other side of the podium, where had been meant to be all along. At last, after a presentation by a woman who wanted to form a classification system for Mutant gifts that almost had Scott nodding off, Xavier had announced a half-hour break for the guests to mix and talk, and avail themselves of the table of food that had been set out during the speeches. Almost before the applause had died away, Peter was gone. Scott decided he didn't much care, soon fell into conversation with a boy around his own age who had come with his parents – unusually, the entire family shared a single gift, and he had been too pleasantly engaged even to notice the huge, blonde-haired man in what looked like armour stride past him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : I may not know Avengers back-to-front, but I *do* know my Norse mythology, so if Thor seems a little OOC here it's probably because I'm writing a version more closely allied to the mythological Thor than to the dishy one.**

3.

"Are you the Keeper of these treasures?" the big man was asking. Lorna had a crick in her neck already from looking up at him, but nodded and smiled in what she hoped didn't look too much of a terrified manner. "Verily, they are young things, but of value to the men of Midgard no doubt"

"Err, yes… we, umm Midgard people find them very valuable" she stammered, "And you are?"

"I am Thor Odinson, Lord of Thunder and rightful heir to the Throne of Asgard" the man bowed politely to her. Lorna wondered if she should curtsey, offer a hand, or just try and get herself out of this conversation. She could actually hear him pronouncing the capital letters when he spoke, wondered how he did that.

"Lorna Maximoff" she squeaked. Thor looked delighted

"You are the sister of the Sorceress!" he exclaimed, "Thor has shared many adventures with that Great Lady"

"You mean Wanda? Yeah, she's told me about you – a bit anyway"

"The Legends of Thor's Deeds travel far, Keeper of Treasures" he told her solemnly. Not quite knowing what to say to that, Lorna was relieved to see her older brother weaving his way through the people with a fresh cup of coffee for her

"Black, two sugars, decaf," he told her, handed her the cup, "How's the exhibit going?"

"It's good, Peter this is –"

"I am Thor Odinson, Lord of –"

"He works with Wanda" Lorna cut in, watched her brother gaze up at the man and raise his eyebrows at the sheer size of him. Thor reached and grabbed Peter's hand in his, engulfing it and most of his wrist in his huge hand, shook it vigorously. When he was released, Peter shook some feeling back into his fingers and winced. Damn, the guy was strong.

"Thor like the Danish God, yeah?" he asked, Lorna nudged him, "What?"

"It's Norse, and he *is* the actual God" she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Mr Odinson – this is my older brother Peter, he's Wanda's twin"

"You are the Fast One?" Thor asked, looked Peter up and down, "The Sorceress speaks fondly of you as one who can outrun the wind"

"Umm, yeah. That'd be me"

"We have a saying, in the Halls of Asgard" the God boomed, "A man who runs from a fight will live to see another, but will win no Glory"

"Well that's… nice I guess" Peter said, "Can't get enough of that good old glory, huh?"

Thor roared with laughter, a sound that made everybody in the room jump and reach to cover their ears. He clapped Peter on the shoulder, knocking him hard into the wall

"You are full of Humour as your sister says" he said, "Thor is glad to meet you both, but now Thor must piss"

"Bathrooms are down on the right!" Lorna called helpfully as he turned and strode away, "Are you okay, Peter?"

Her brother had turned his face to the wall and was very lightly banging his forehead against it. He chuckled humourlessly at her, turned to slump on the wall and shake his head

"Yeah, yeah… sure. Just got pounded by a God, I think he cracked something, and the house is full of people with powers way cooler than mine, why should I be anything but dandy?"

Lorna reached out with her mind and floated her bag over by the carabiners she'd clipped on specifically for the purpose, fished around in it until she came back with a bar of chocolate. She never left home without one, and especially not when she knew she'd be seeing her older sibling. Offered it to him with a kind smile and was shocked when he refused

"OK now I know you're not okay. What's going on, man?"

"It's nothing, Littlest. Just like I said, everyone here is so powerful. There's a girl in there who can reach into thin air and pull out whatever she wants. Another one who can control fire, a guy who can create earthquakes with his mind, and what can I do? Zoom around like a freakin' Roadrunner"

"That's pretty cool too though" she soothed, leaned against the wall with him and snuggled close, "And you're an X-Man, that's got to mean something right? Why would they have you on the team if you weren't awesomely powerful?"

"Because they need someone to fetch things fast and squeeze into little spaces" he said bitterly, "Face it, I'm the comic relief. The Tin Dog. Anyone can do what I do, just a little more slowly"

"Have some chocolate" she said, unwrapping the bar and breaking him off a piece, "It'll make you feel better and you need to keep your strength up"

"And that's another thing!" he said, but took the chocolate she offered before he went on, speaking slightly muffled around a mouthful, "I'm a liability, nobody else has to get a thousand calories an hour just to keep going, more if I want to do anything at a decent pace. The whole team has to look out for me in case I throw a faint, it's ridiculous"

"I'm sure they don't feel that way, Peter. You all look out for each other"

"Scott thinks that" he said miserably, took some more chocolate, "Just because I can't shoot lasers out of my eyes and I get a little wobbly if I have low blood sugar. He hates having me on the team. Thinks I'm a total idiot"

"Has he actually said that?" she asked, knew Peter's tendency to overreact and misunderstand things when he was in a bad mood.

"In those words, yes" Peter told her.

"Oh…" she hesitated, gave him the rest of the bar, "He seemed nice…."

"He is. He's brave and handsome and charming and a walking gun-turret. That's why everyone loves him"

From the main hall, they heard Xavier calling people back to their seats. Lorna gave her brother a tight hug, muttered into his leather-clad shoulder

"Mom would be so proud of you keeping us all safe today. Go do your job, I'll see you at lunchtime, okay?"

"Hey Maximoff!" Scott's voice rang through from the corridor, "Get back to your post!"

"Don't shout at my brother, X-Ray Specs!" Lorna yelled back, turned to make sure Peter was okay, but he'd already gone.

It was absolutely beyond Lorna how her brother could think he was useless. Though she had to drag it out of him, he'd told her about getting everybody out of the Xavier mansion when it had blown up. It didn't take someone with Lorna's education to know that to do that, he would have had to outrun an explosion as well as lift people bodily to safety, a feat that took both lightning speed, precision, and the use of his surprising strength. How could a guy who could do that think he was a liability to the team? Peter had always been an unhappy soul, never felt he was good enough for anyone – but she'd thought some of that had lifted after he'd come away to the Academy. Evidently, there was still work to be done where it came to bolstering his fragile ego. Keeping herself half-turned to the exhibits, Lorna hung in the doorway and applauded with the rest, she'd wanted to hear Hank McCoy present, and from here she could hear him and just about see her brother. He looked so good up there in his smart black-and-silver combat suit, eyes obscured by sleek wraparound goggles. Nobody else could have known what was going on behind them, he looked so calm, but Lorna knew that was an act. She listened to the presentation, but instead of the slides Hank put up kept her gaze fixed on Peter, admiring her handsome brother but also worrying about him just a little.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Finally managing to get her colleague from the Jeffersonian – the dry, humourless woman who'd almost sent everyone to sleep talking about classifying gifts – to look after the exhibits, Lorna strode off into the main hall at last, glad to stretch her legs, spotting her older sister and breaking into a little run to her side. She looked gorgeous today, resplendent red hair piled up on her head, a short scarlet dress and matching knee-boots that showed off her lovely long legs, turning at the tap on her shoulder and grinning at her youngest sibling.

"Littlest! Have you been here all morning?" she cried, "I just got here, ran into some problems on the way. Looks like I've missed a lot"

"You haven't missed *my* talk" Lorna told her, saw Wanda make a little face and laughed it off, knowing her sister found what she did excruciatingly dull

"You've met Mr Stark, haven't you?" she indicated the man she'd been speaking to, who raised the glass he was holding and smiled.

"I think so, the Museum's annual ball last year?" she said, "In any case, good to see you again"

"And you," he replied smoothly, "I was just saying to Wanda, don't you think this place could do with a little sprucing up? I'm thinking Minimalist, lose all the clutter"

"I'm not sure Professor Xavier would like that, Tony" Wanda told him

"Well, he wouldn't have much say if I bought the Academy from him, would he?" Stark grinned, winked at her, "I'm joking, what do I want with a school? Gotta say though, none of the co-eds looked like this when I was at college…."

Lorna rolled her eyes. Now she remembered why she didn't go to any of the Stark Industries gatherings she got invited to as her sister's plus-one.

"Is it okay if I borrow Wanda?" she asked, slipped her hand under her sister's arm, "We said we'd have lunch with our brother, though I haven't seen him around, have you?"

"Sorry girls, Speedy hasn't crossed my path all morning. I'm sure he'll turn up though – did you try the buffet table? Or maybe whatever trough they usually put out for him?"

Ignoring the slight, Lorna gave him a brittle smile and led Wanda away

"He's a jerk, you know that right?" she said quietly. Wanda nodded

"He's a rich jerk"

"That doesn't buy him the right to act like that"

"It's kinda does" Wanda said apologetically, "Look – there's Angie, Peter won't be far"

When they had got to the girl, however, exchanged their by now traditional hugs, she hadn't known where her boyfriend was either, had been turning to push her chair in when he'd vanished from the hall. She hoped he was off getting a more substantial lunch than the finger-food on offer, even sitting across the hall from his post she'd been watching him turn paler as the morning had dragged on, and she couldn't see him settling for a cocktail buffet.

Pushing through the throngs of people, the three woman had eventually spotted Peter sat out on a balcony by himself, perched on the balustrade staring out over the grounds

"There you are!" Angela said, "Where've you been Puppydog? We were looking all over"

"Hey Trashcan" Wanda called, saw him turn but dismayed when he didn't immediately bound over as he normally would, approached him and slipped her arms around him to rest her chin on his shoulder "What's the matter?"

"Hey Buttface" he felt hard and unyielding under her cuddling arms, "Nothin'. Just getting away from everything, y'know?"

"Did you get lunch already?" Angela asked, swung her legs over the balustrade to sit beside him, "We've got an hour, we could go pick up burgers if you want"

Peter shook his head, allowed her to slip a hand into his but didn't squeeze it back.

"M'not hungry" he muttered

"Yeah? Well tough, you look like crap. Let's go get you some food" Wanda told him, tried to pull him back with her and surprised when he held on with his strong legs locked around a pillar, didn't allow her to move him. "Don't be an ass, you know you need to eat"

"Put me down, Wanda" he growled at her. Wanda drew back, surprised. She'd had her fair share of spats with her twin before now, as was only to be expected, but he very rarely sounded genuinely angry with her.

"Dude, there's no need to get like that" Lorna told him gently, "Come on, at least have some more chocolate, it's better than nothing"

Finally, with a sigh, Peter had turned and kicked his legs back over, joined three of the four most important women in his life sat down on the balcony. Lorna had brought up another bar with her, which she had passed over to her older brother as Angela and Wanda snuggled in on either side of him, each with an arm crossed over his back.

"Are you still feeling bad because of Scott?" Lorna asked

"What did he do?" Wanda demanded, "Is he picking on you, Dogbreath? He'd better not be"

"It's not just Scott," Peter explained, "It's everything. Usually I do okay with having a kind of lame power, but with everyone here being able to do all that cool stuff, I guess I'm just feeling pretty down about it"

"Lame?!" Angela said incredulously, "Since when was outright defiance of the laws of physics lame?"

"Maybe not taken on its own, Hon, but against what you and others can do, it's pretty weak" He said, "I mean look at you Wanda – you've got this cosmic force that you can unleash whenever you choose. Lorna, you and Dad can lift things you'd usually need a crane for just by thinking about it. I just feel like I got the crappy end of the X-gene compared to you"

"Oh Peter," Angela sighed, "What are we going to do with you? There are people who'd kill to have your abilities"

"Yeah? Well I'd kill to get rid of them, or at least have better ones"

"No you wouldn't," Wanda gave him a tight squeeze, "You feel guilty about swatting mosquitos. And that's what makes you special – not your speed, your heart"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Remember that time Bobby Drake had the 'flu, and you ran all the way down to the other side of town in the middle of the night to find an open drugstore and get him some Junior Tylenol?" Angela said, "Or when Jubilee sprained her ankle out in the grounds and you carried her back to the mansion?"

"What about the way you keep me cool when I'm furious?" Wanda added, "That's no easy feat you know, but you always know what to say. You can always make me laugh. And how about when Lorna was tiny and you used to look after her to let Mom get a rest, even though you were deathly sick yourself?"

"And who else would I call at 3AM when some girl breaks my heart?" Lorna asked him, "Remember Cindy? When she left me, you showed up on my doorstep in half an hour with a pint of ice cream and my favourite blanket from home. And I was three states away at the time"

"So I'm nice, big deal" he huffed, "Anyone would have done that stuff"

"Exactly our point." Lorna said, "To you, being a hero is just the daily ride to work. You bring light into people's lives. The world wouldn't be the same without you – you're making it better. That's your real gift, big bro"

"That's so sentimental I think I'm gonna hurl" he told her, "But thanks"

"Anytime." She shrugged, "And by the way, super-speed is the second most picked gift when you ask people what power they'd have, after telepathy, so really if you're second to anyone it's only the Professor. Think you can handle that?"

Peter gave her a little smile, the first they'd seen since they'd been out there. Nodded and got to his feet

"Do you still want burgers? 'Cos I can go get us some, won't take a second"

The four of them sat for the remainder of the hour, enjoying lunch and each other's company, before they had rejoined the others in the hall for the afternoon session. Angela hung back with him before she let him take his post again, hands on his hips looking up seriously into his eyes

"I didn't wanna say this in front of your sisters," she said, "But you're the sweetest guy I've ever met. Nobody has a heart like you, nobody's ever respected me the way you do. I've got very high standards and you exceed them daily, so don't you *ever* think you're inferior to anybody, okay? 'Cos I'll kick your tight little butt"

"You and my butt" he smirked, "You're obsessed"

"Damn right I am," she smacked him gently on the rump, "Now go be an X-Man. And if there's any trouble, save me first"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N : Last chapter now! I have an idea for a very angsty little fic, but after that I'm back on with the prompts in order of the poll results. Would you be interested in a heartbreakingly sad little one-shot? It's been added as an option to the poll on my profile.**

 **Thanks as always for reading and reviewing!**

5.

The rest of the afternoon seemed a little less of a drag, after everybody had refreshed themselves. Looking around the hall to welcome them back, Xavier noticed than many people had swapped tables after the break, sitting with new acquaintances instead of those they had come with. It warmed his heart to see that this might make the difference he had hoped for – he'd had to eat his own lunch balanced on his knees and surrounded by people of all ages wanting to know more about the Academy. When this was all cleared away, he'd have a lot of work to do contacting new recruits, arranging places for the following semester, welcoming new Mutants into the school. Max Goldsmith, first after the break, had given a charming and funny address that nevertheless touched a lot of hearts in the hall. Xavier could see that many of the assembled Mutants and their families found that the doctor's words struck a chord, and he marvelled at how someone human had come to such a deep understanding of the Mutant mind. Wondered if he might be able to engage Max to come in and speak to some of their more troubled students, but had thought about leaving it when the talks had finally been over and people were mixing before they left, seeing the doctor speaking to Peter.

At last the crowds had begun to disperse. Xavier thought his hand might actually be sprained from all the shaking, and everybody had thanked him so profusely that there was no doubt in his mind that there would be another conference. The mood in the room was so hopeful as people left, carrying their new knowledge and understanding out into the world, and there had been no trouble at all, thankfully. He was a little glad that Erik hadn't been able to attend that day, not because he thought his old friend would have started something, but because seeing him there, when they did not truly know him, might have bothered some people. Perhaps the next time, he'd come. Xavier would have an entire year first to think about how he would explain Magneto's presence at a peaceful conference to the assembled delegates. He hadn't called them over, but the team had assembled beside him to help him bid goodbye to the visitors, spotting Jean looking coy and delighted speaking to Stark – truth be told Xavier didn't like him much, but he was undoubtedly a genius, and the school really did need his backing.

"Thor is glad to have joined you today!" a voice boomed to his right, and Xavier felt his arm almost come off in the handshake, "Your Hall is truly nothing to that of my father, but it has been most welcoming!"

"It's… very nice to have had you" Xavier said, winced and felt his shoulder, making sure his arm was still attached, "I hope you'll come again"

"And you, Fast One," Thor had turned and grabbed Peter's hand, shaking it just as hard, "Perhaps with your Great Leader's guidance you may learn to stand and fight, and not run"

"Verily you can stick it up your Asgard" Peter replied pleasantly, "Running's what I do, man. Bet you couldn't catch me"

Thor gave out another of those head-cracking laughs, released Peter from his grip. This time he dodged before he was clapped on the shoulder again.

"Thor has a brother whom you would enjoy, Fast One" he said, "We will meet again. Friend Stark, shall we leave?"

Reluctantly, Jean allowed the man to release her hand, giggled in a way that Xavier thought Scott probably found *very* annoying, and allowed the God to lead him away.

When all but a few stragglers had gone, Peter had sped upstairs to change out of his uniform into something a little more himself. It wasn't that he didn't like the combat suit, but it was a little tight to go for dinner in – and besides, he'd only spill something down it. Reappearing in his favourite jeans, a worn-out Yes shirt, with his leather jacket and headphones back in place as always, he caught back up to his sisters intending to take them all someone good and have a pleasant evening in Westchester, heading for the door with them when a voice had called out from behind them

"Hey! Hey there, hold up!"

He turned to see a plump kid of about eighteen coming after them, frowned and wondered what he'd done this time. A man caught up to the kid, looked concerned and grabbed him to stop the running

"Stop it Barry! Here – have your inhaler"

Obligingly the kid took the medication, but then had immediately handed it back and strode across to where the little family were standing waiting.

"You're Quicksilver, aren't you?" he said, the eagerness in his eyes shining, "You're so cool, I saw you on the news one time. I wanna be just like you"

Peter took the pudgy hand that was offered, gave him a kind smile. Even after having his inhaler the kid was out of breath and looked flushed

"Sure am" Peter told him, "And you are...?"

"Barry. I wish I could run like you, it's so awesome" the kid looked a little awestruck, and Peter could feel Wanda, Lorna and Angela's eyes on him, almost hear them think _how cute!_

"Well, maybe you should join a track team?" Peter suggested, "You've got asthma right? But if you take your medication regularly you can still run, you just have to be careful. Maybe you'll never be as fast as me, but there's always potential right?"

"That would be so cool…" Barry said, starry-eyed, turned to the man who had chased after him, "Can I do that, Dad? I promise I'll take my inhalers"

The man, his father, look dubious, looked at Peter who gave him a little nod

"I guess if you're careful. It would be better than sitting in the house all day"

"Where did you get your goggles?" Barry demanded, indicated the silver pair that Peter almost always had perched on his head, ready to pull down and speed. Peter laughed, took them off and handed them to Barry, who took them with a look of astonishment

"Really?" he asked, "You're… giving those to me?"

Peter nodded, took them and settled them on Barry's face for him. They looked ridiculous, but the boy seemingly couldn't have been happier

"Those were made for me," Peter explained, "You won't find them in the stores. But I have lots, you take these. They'll keep your eyes clear when you're running"

Jubilation had approached, with her Polaroid camera in hand, shyly asked

"Do you want a picture?"

Barry nodded enthusiastically, obligingly kept still, seemed to positively glow when Peter had put an arm around his shoulders, flicked a peace sign at the camera and offered it the cheesiest of his grins. Barry took the little square, shaking it and watching the image. He looked like he was about to cry with happiness.

"Thanks, Quicksilver," he said quietly, "You're the best"

Peter laughed again, patted Barry kindly on the back

"Gotta go, kid. But you enjoy your running. Be careful, you'll get there"

He could hear Barry babbling excitedly to his father as they had turned and left, letting Wanda and Lorna take an arm each. Maybe he wasn't the most powerful Mutant in the mansion, and maybe he couldn't do a lot of things that the others could, but just at that moment, he still felt pretty lucky.

"A little flattery works miracles on you, doesn't it?" Lorna laughed. Her brother grinned at her, nodded

"It doesn't go amiss" he said, "Now what's it gonna be – feel like Chinese?"


End file.
